When ‘Bring Your Whole Self to Work’ Is Bad Advice for Your Startup

Somewhere along the way, the idea curdled into something simpler and less true: that more disclosure is always better.

EXPERT OPINION BY TONY MARTIGNETTI

The CEO meant it as honesty. Standing in front of the all-hands, eight weeks after a term sheet evaporated, she told more than a hundred employees the truth: she was scared. The runway was shorter than anyone outside the leadership team knew, she wasn’t sleeping, and she didn’t have all the answers. She had read all the same things the rest of us have about vulnerability and authentic leadership, and she believed them. Bring your whole self to work. Don’t perform a composure you don’t feel.

By the end of the week, two of her best engineers had updated their LinkedIn profiles. The fear she had shared so honestly........

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